Duck Foamy Eye

One morning, my Welsh Harlequin had some foamy bubbles in the corner of one eye and was shaking her head a lot. I looked it up on BYC, and there were a few other forums recommending warm saline rinse, apple cider vinegar, or Vetericyn. There were also suggestions that it could be a respiratory infection and to use an antibiotic.

I rinsed the eye with warm salt water a few times a day for about a week, and it seemed to be improving but not going away completely. One morning it got bad again and looked like she had scratched it and the tissue below the eye had bled. I bought the Vetericyn and have used it twice a day for 2 1/2 days now, but it's still looking bad and today she had scratched it until it bled again.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm worried about her! Thanks so much.

I do have a drake, and though there are 3 females, the one having the eye issue is the only one he is rough with. Perhaps it's an eye injury that became infected? Would that cause the foaming? What would be the best way to handle that?

He needs a time out, or she does. If he is not rough with the others, then separate her - but if you are concerned about the other two as well, set him up a little temporary separate area - I use plastic poultry fence so they can see each other but not touch each other. Puppy playpens help if you have the height - they are hinged and you can configure them easily and they stand by themselves.

Often just a few days split up can improve the dynamics in the flock.

But either way you do it, he needs to stay away from her.

Yes, foamy eye is a form of infection. But caught early, before it gets deeper into the tissue, topical treatments work. Sometimes you can find an opthalmic gel that has antibiotics in it.

Even putting a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in each gallon of their drinking water can help as long as she can dip her head into it.

I do have a way to separate her, so I'll do that for a next few days, add apple cider vinegar to her water bucket, and continue with the Vetericyn. If that's not enough, maybe I'll scout out the opthalmic gel.

Yikes! Thanks, Amykins. I would hate for that to happen. Her eye is foaming less but still looks swollen and a little irritated. I haven't had the ducks long and this is the first problem I've experienced. Would I need to actually bring her in to the vet?

You may need to. But rinsing the eye with saline solution three or four times a day may fix it up. Watch closely, very closely. Amykins is right that an eye infection can lead to blindness. In my mind, there is always a risk that a topical infection can get into the bloodstream. Ducks hide illness very well until they are quite ill and it may be too late.